1953: A Very Good Year

Give It Away

I’m taking a chord from Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song and . . .

doing a give away.

For one lucky winner I’ll create a blog header (okay, maybe a couple of headers). Woohoo!

(Hey, I’m not a chick of many talents!)

How to Enter:
I am asking for you to pay it forward, for you to spare five “sense” you have gained from your personal experience as a homemaker.
I’m not even asking for a dime, just five sense!
The sense should pertain to the maintaining of the home or the preservation of the homemaker’s welfare (aka sanity).
President Kimball advised, “Whatever your circumstance, let your premises reflect orderliness, beauty, and happiness.”
Working, working from home, staying at home, whatever the circumstance,

how do you keep order, beauty and happiness within your abode?

Got any loose change?

The “sense” could be but not limited to…
positive affirmations, recipes, helpful websites, solace, household tips, advice, products, patterns, hobbies, books, whatever.

Give a Nickel, Take a Nickel

Here’s what to do…
Post your five sense on your blog, make sure you link back here in your post, and invite your friends to donate five sense.
Comment on THIS post, mentioning your blog post’s link (Blogger creates an address for each post you publish, click your post's hyperlink title to navigate to that blog post's address, use that address when commenting on THIS post. Whew. I've gone crossed-eyed.)
Check back often to borrow someone else’s five sense.

Let’s go dutch,
here’s my five sense:

1. Scripture Study – Out of the eight rooms in my house, FOUR of them have scriptures in them: the living room, dining room, bedroom, and upstairs bathroom. I use my downtime (like during breakfast or supervising Caleb’s bath) to search, ponder and pray.
2. Peach Freezer Jam – is the best thing since sliced bread (or in Kim's case, Magic Erasers) and easy to make.
3. Mundane Exercise – The crappy parking spot at Wal-mart next to the cart rack (you know the one, the one consigned to oblivion) is sought after by me. I have one handheld mixer and one upright mixer, I use neither. My whisk is my weapon of choice. Use mundane opportunities to exercise, as “kneaded.”
4. Youtube Playlist – Sign up for a youtube account and create a playlist of your family’s favorite video clips or just

THE SONGS IN YOUR HEAD.

5. Know your way around a chicken – learn how to cook a whole chicken. You’ll be amazed by how easy and affordable it is.

PS Do you dig the Homespun Nickel?
Bet you wonder what the back looks like…There’s always two sides to a coin. : )

GIVE AWAY ENDS: Wednesday, FEB 3rd
when I will randomly select a commenter as a winner!

Here we go. Ready. Set. Blog!

Rookie Mom Mistake #44

Just in case you forgot whose blog your were reading… here’s the

Rookie Mom Mistake #44

Forty-four, as in the number of ingredients in a tub of petroleum jelly or the page number I was on while reading A Prayer for Owen Meany. I picked up the book because of this list. After a friend posted the inventory on Facebook, I pledge to further chisel away at the “canon” of literature. Always use the term canon loosely.
The novel is pretty good so far like most of John Irving’s works.
It was during my expedition of Gravesend when it happened.
There I was reading on the couch, just minding my own business, when my son comes up behind me and starts stroking my head, petting me. I think

Aw, he is so nice

and tell him I think so. After several minutes of this I reach back to fix my hair and retie my ponytail (the official mom-do for those with more length than the matriarch bob)... I am surprised to feel something sticky on my hair. I sit up, distrubed and look at my hand.... Petroleum Jelly. Caleb had found the case, opened it and applied it liberally to my hair! And I was encouraging him to do so, thinking he was being nice to me!!!

Way. To. Go.

Worse, my son has the means to make a frustrating situation into a Hallmark moment by kissing my hair. He must have had chapped lips.

Well, at least I have something new to add to my mommy résumé.